Charges have been brought against Chen Zhihao Samuel and Wong Tuck Wai Raymond for carrying out a scheme to defraud the Central Provident Fund (CPF) board.

Between September 2017 and January 2019, Chen withdrew funds from his CPF Ordinary Account (OA), by incurring trading losses when he bought shares from Wong at artificially high prices and subsequently sold the shares to Wong at artificially low prices.

His trades involved shares from Santak Holdings, CFM Holdings, RH Petrogas and Sunvic Chemical Holdings.

SEE:CPF Investment Scheme funds post average negative returns of 12.96% in 1Q20: Refinitiv Lipper

Chen traded in the shares under the CPF Investment Scheme, which provides members with the option to invest their CPF savings in financial instruments such as insurance products, unit trusts, fixed deposits, bonds and shares. 

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Chen faces four charges for employing a scheme to defraud CPF under section 58A of the CPF Act, while Wong faces four charges for intentionally aiding Chen in the scheme.

For each charge, Chen and Wong each face a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both, if convicted. 

 The investigation was jointly conducted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force.